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RoadwayR

Pedigreed Bulldog
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Everything posted by RoadwayR

  1. White definitely was after the REO V-8 and OHV 6's to replace their old 'Mustang' flatheads. The 'Giesel' was the gasoline conversion of the Cummins 555 diesel. I thought White came out with the Giesel to replace the REO V-8 after White sold Diamond-REO off. Diamond-REO kept the REO engine plant in Lansing, and continued to make the engines for a few years after they left White before they went out of business. I was told there were a few White 4000's built with GMC gas V-6's after White sold Diamond-REO before the Giesel came out. Anyone ever seen one?
  2. The 637 was an odd-ball, actually a gasoline conversion of the 637 Toro-Flow V-8 diesel. Had the combustion chambers in the pistons like a diesel. I knew a guy that thought the world of them, but I think the 637's he drove had 10 speeds. I remember him saying they needed to spin, if you kept the r.p.m.'s up they made all kinds of power.
  3. I seem to also remember some sort of scandal with Bering's U.S. distributorship. A few of the trucks were sold here, I heard they seemed to be pretty good. Thought they had a future.
  4. I drove a Fleetstar once that had a 537 V-8 in it, sort of an improved 549 I guess. Truck had a 5X4 in it, geared really short. I wasn't the best at driving a 5X4, but I could make it pull pretty hard. Don't know what the issues were, but I remember hearing the big International V-8's were not the most reliable big gassers. The company I work for had a bunch of 534 Fords back in the day. Last one I remember seeing was a 70-something LT-900. I never got a chance to drive it, but never heard anything bad about it. I know by then the 534's didn't make a whole lot of power due to emissions, which was why they were dropped a couple of years after the Lima 429 came out. The 429's were great, only problems I ever saw with those were the cams going flat and the oil pump pickups falling off. Even that wasn't much of an issue if the driver shut it off quick enough. Outside of the 413/EN414, my favorite big gassers were the GMC 401 and 478 V-6's. That 702 V-12 must have really been a monster. Always wanted to drive a REO V-8, heard they were pretty good.
  5. Class 5-7 gasoline interest. Ford is in a good position, and about to get better with their new 7.3L. Isuzu and GM currently in with class 4/5 LCF gas jobs, class 6 coming. GM and Navistar soon to have gas in class 4/5/6 conventional. Fuso with a class 4 LCF, Freightliner FCCC with class 4/5 stripped chassis. Looks like a trend to me. Question is what else is out there on the way???
  6. I see a lot of NOX sensor failures on our late model B6.7's, and many are the subject of this recall. The sensor is expensive (comes with a module) and it isn't really easy to replace. I don't think, at least in our case, the SCR problem caused the NOX sensor failures. The related trouble codes I have seen are all NOX sensor out of range (electrical failure like short to voltage).
  7. Neat truck, I always thought the R-410's were a preview of what Mack would have been like under Chrysler ownership! The 413's were among the best truck gas V-8's. Very much different than the passenger car-light truck 383's, 400's, and 440's. Wasn't there a R-400 very early on that had a Magnadyne flathead 6 in it?
  8. Making room for VW's successful China operation.
  9. 1962 would still have torsion bar front suspension.
  10. The 292 is a great engine, but that's not a 292! Looks like the older 261 to me. 292 didn't come out until 1963. The 261 was a good engine too, basically a larger heavy duty 235.
  11. That certainly seems to be a growing market! I think that growth drove NAV and GM to partner. It's very price sensitive and high volume, so it's a natural for a traditional auto/light truck manufacturer. Not to mention components sharing with light trucks. Harder for NAV and DTNA to compete there without a partner. Ford and FCA cover it well, and I think Ford's new F-600 will be a great product in there.
  12. Not too sure International or Freightliner for that matter are all too concerned about Ford. Only the lighter MV's an M2's compete with the F-650/750, and I think both of the truck manufacturers figure they can't compete with Ford on price in that weight class. So, let Ford have those low margin fleet sales like U-Haul. Now that International has a class 4/5 (that didn't cost them much!), they will earn conquest sales from Ford. Nowhere to go but up, right? As for Ford-Otosan, it seems like the only thing you can say with any certainty in the truck industry today is that we will never see a Ford-Otosan truck in North America. As VW digs their fangs deeper into Ford's rear end, I figure soon the VW overlords will convince Ford management how much better off they would be if they gave their share of Otosan's truck business to Traton to form a 'strategic alliance'. I say this in sarcasm, but..........
  13. Some, but many are going straight into storage while older Tier 3 units are being rebuilt. The Tier 4's are getting poor fuel economy and both EMD and (former) G.E. units are proving more troublesome. Storing new units means their warranties do not begin until the locomotive is put into service. EMD was at a disadvantage because they had to come up with a new 4 cycle prime mover to meet Tier 4. They are catching up, I have heard crews like the SD70ACe-T4's. U.P. ordered 100, but I think some are going straight into storage. It's going to be a horse race, now that G.E. Locomotives are not part of G.E., their pockets are not as deep. Cat seems pretty serious. In any event this is all against a backdrop of slowing locomotive sales. Rebuilding Tier 3's makes more economic sense than buying Tier 4's. Funny Siemens didn't make a move for G.E.'s locomotive business.
  14. Like when Fiat/Chrysler conned all their dealers to pick up Fiat franchises. Of course, they had to build separate facilities....... They pay day was supposed to come when Alfa knocked Audi out. Wonder how that's working out.
  15. I don't know, I think Ford is doing as well as they want to with the Ford powertrain. The 650 and 750 sell on price, adding a Cummins/Allison drivetrain might increase the price of the trucks considerably. If the Ford was within a few dollars of a Freightliner M2 or a International MV, the Ford with it's old pickup truck cab and car dealer service network might be a tough sell against 'real' medium duty trucks. But, as it is, Ford can undercut their competitors and distribute the truck through their existing dealer network due to in large part to the 650/750 drivetrain. And, they have their own gasoline engine which gives them a unique product in class 6 and 7. Ford is in a great position right now, but Chevy is looming large in their rearview mirror. GM is going with the same philosophy with their new Silverado medium duty trucks, but leveraged their development and manufacturing with Navistar. More joint venture trucks are reported to be on the way and on top of that they have a great LCF line. At last count Chevy had better than 400 medium duty dealers. If I were Ford I would be more concerned with Chevy right now than International or Freightliner.
  16. Seriously, why should they? They get all the advantages with NAV as a strategic partner and it doesn't cost them any more. Got a good thing going just the way it is now. Besides, I am starting to think VW wants to slim down so they can swallow Ford. I figure VW will sell more of Traton off in coming years, and they are about to sell MAN's large engine unit off as you have reported.
  17. Some of those truck 366's and 427's had stainless steel 'header' type exhaust manifolds from the factory: https://www.mylittlesalesman.com/1987-gmc-366-engine-egr-manifold-1140702
  18. Saw a few of those over the years in California. Rumor was the conventional cab was wide and the doors had bulges in them so the driver could sleep across the seats!
  19. What did they have for power, 6V-92 Silver?
  20. Isuzu dealers here in California seem to be doing well with the FTR, I wonder if Isuzu is considering a more powerful higher GVW version.
  21. That's just it: A twin-steer cab-over mixer might be just the ticket for transit-mix (maneuverable, can be heavy on the front, not too long), but good luck getting anyone here to try it! BTW- that GXD is awfully close to the Giga CY series.
  22. Nice. No real market for either one here, maybe the GXD as a city tractor.
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